Nigeria destroys record $11.2 million in seized elephant tusks

Nigeria on Tuesday destroyed 2.5 tonnes of seized elephant tusks valued at over 9.9 billion naira ($11.2 million) in a push to protect its dwindling elephant population from rampant wildlife traffickers.

Over the past three decades, Nigeria's elephant population

has declined drastically from an estimated 1,500 to less than 400 due to poaching for ivory, habitat loss and human-elephant conflict, according to conservationists.

Minister of State for Environment Iziaq Salako said the government crushed the tusks and will use the powder to build a symbolic national park monument as a reminder of the importance of elephants in the ecosystem.

The pulverization of the tusk in the capital Abuja follows a similar event in October where officials destroyed four tonnes of seized pangolin scales valued at $1.4 million.

Thousands of elephants are killed each year for their tusks despite a 1989 ban on the trade of ivory by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Despite being a signatory to CITES, Nigeria is considered a hub for gangs sending illegal African wildlife parts including tusks and pangolin scales to Asia, according to law enforcement and wildlife experts.

But the large West African nation has stepped up counter-smuggling efforts in recent years, partnering with British, U.S. and German officials as well as international organizations to make its biggest seizure of illegal wildlife parts in August 2021.

Last month, officials began an investigation after a video posted on social media showed a soldier shooting two elephants that strayed into farmlands, sparking outrage among citizens.

In 2022, Nigeria customs officials seized 1,613 tonnes of pangolin scales and arrested 14 people.

By Isaac Anyaogu, Reuters

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Dubai International Chamber recently opened its seventh office in Nigeria. The wider oil-rich Gulf region is seeking to leverage its unique geography with sound investment opportunities in the region.

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The Nigerian government says it is determined to not only end petrol imports but to also make the country a net exporter of petroleum products by the end of this year. It says its two other refineries will come back on stream by the last quarter of the year.

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Nigeria to sell power distribution firm over $130 million debt

Nigeria's electricity regulator has put up for sale the sixth largest power distribution utility over a $130 million debt, less than two years after the lenders who took over the company failed to turn it around and make it profitable.

Africa's biggest economy, Nigeria, has 11 power distribution companies but they are struggling to remain profitable because of lack of capital and sub-economic tariffs imposed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc (Kaduna Electric) is one of 18 successor companies created following the privatisation of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria in 2013 and sells electricity in four northern states.

The utility owes 110 billion naira ($130 million), NERC said in a notice on Monday, to companies including the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader and power generation firms. The regulator said it now considered the company a 'failing licensee', allowing NERC to dissolve its board using a law passed last year.

Kaduna Electric was taken over by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and local lender Fidelity Bank in July 2022 but they have struggled to improve its financial performance. The Nigerian government through its Bureau of Public Enterprises also owns a 40% stake.

NERC said it had appointed an administrator and special directors to manage Kaduna Electric in the interim and sell its assets to the highest bidder.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of more than 200 million people, produces a fraction of its installed power generation capacity of 12,500 megawatts, leaving millions of households and businesses reliant on private generators for electricity. 

By Isaac Anyaogu, Reuters

President Tinubu suspends humanitarian minister in corruption scandal

Nigeria’s president on Monday suspended the country’s minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation over the use of a private bank account for ministry financial transactions in the government’s social welfare program.

Betta Edu was suspended with immediate effect while Nigeria’s anticorruption agency carries out a “thorough investigation” of all ministry financial transactions,” presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement. It said the investigation would extend to the entire framework of Nigeria’s social investment programs.

President Bola Tinubu came to power last year promising to crack down on graft in Nigeria despite longstanding question marks around his source of wealth and educational records. Within a month of his inauguration, he suspended the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) indefinitely for abuse of office.

His government said the suspension follows his commitment “to uphold the highest standards of integrity, transparency and accountability” in how Nigeria’s resources are managed.

Edu’s suspension comes days after local media cited an official memo in which she directed that 585 million naira ($663,000) worth of grants meant for vulnerable groups should be paid into a private account — a decision that the minister’s office said followed due process. The minister has denied any wrongdoing.

In a country where the government’s austerity measures have further squeezed millions of people facing extreme levels of poverty, many Nigerians criticised the use of a private bank account for the grants program and called for the minister to be fired.

The office of Nigeria’s Accountant General of the Federation said in a statement that such funds are meant to be sent directly from government accounts to the beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Umar Farouq, reported to the EFCC on Monday as it investigated alleged corruption in the disbursement of public funds during her time as minister. Farouq said on social media that she was at the commission’s office to “offer clarifications in respect of some issues that the commission is investigating”.

Al Jazeera

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